Over the past year I've been busy trying to find an affordable and effective primer for my eyes. One of the first I tried was from the ''Anew Beauty Youth-Awakening Eyeshadow and Primer Kit'' from AVON. It retails at £10 but is currently on a special at £6! The kit contains a primer, two eye shadows and a dual ended applicator sponge. The quantities of the products are small but for such a reasonable price, I guess that is to be expected! You can choose from a range of four shades (the primer is the same colour regardless of what shade ya choose!) and I bought it in 'Shimmering Walnut'.
Before I start ranting and completely put you off this product for good, I must say, I have veryyyyyyy sensitive skin and I have in the past reacted to AVON 'Skin so soft' shower wash. I own quite a lot of Avon make up so I had no doubts or hesitations when ordering this product.
The eye shadows that come in the kit were very light opaque but blended well together and were great for an everyday look with that added sparkle. (I would upload pictures but I no longer own the kit, you'll soon find out why).
The primer was, however, a different story. I understand that primers come in all different forms, you get gels, creams and liquids to name a few but this came in the form of a rather thick, 'skin toned' gel! Hmmm, not what I was expecting... When applying the primer (with my finger, as it just stuck to the sponge!) I found it hard to apply evenly. The gel would roll into clumpy little balls (excuse the description) and be impossible to smooth out. It was very had to find the perfect amount, too much and it doesn't spread, too little and it doesn't cover the full eye lid.
When shadow was applied on top, it did make the colour more vivid but it did not help with creases! In less that an hour, my shadow would be as creased as ever!
Just a week after using this product, I found my eyes to be sore, red and swollen, so obviously I stopped! Since it was the only new product I had been using, I was sure it had caused the reaction. It took 2 months and 3 doctors appointments (until I was prescribed a cream) to reduce the swelling and redness of my eyes. It also meant I was unable to wear eye make up to any events that happened within this time :(
[My eyes are absolutely fine now but the kit is in the bin!]
As you can see, this kit more bother than all it was worth, with me anyway, so I would DEFINITELY not recommend it to those with sensitive eyes! The primer itself was more like a gloopy (how epic are my descriptions?!) BB cream so I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone.. unless you like the lumpy spotty eye lid look! The shadows were lovely, a little bit sparkly and nice 'n' light so if you have lids of steel (aka 'your skin is not sensitive') you may get on well with them.
So thats all I really have to say about this 'pig in a poak' of a primer! Next, I'll be reviewing MUAs' Eye primer, so if ya liked this then stay tuned!
-Amy
xx
P.S. Let me know if you know what 'Pig in a Poak' means :P
